The knuckleballer entered Tuesday’s game needing 6 1/3 innings to tie Roger Clemens at 2,776 for the most in Red Sox history. Denton True “Cy” Young is third at 2,728 1/3.

In the seventh inning he struck out Jhonny Peralta on an 0-2 curveball to reach the mark, and passed it when Russell Branyan popped out to Marco Scutaro at short.

“I didn’t know anything about it and he didn’t know either,” catcher Victor Martinez said. “I gave him the baseball and he said, ‘What’s going on?’”

“Now that I know what’s going on, it’s very special,” Wakefield said.

Wakefield (2-4, 5.48) threw 7 1/3 innings, scattered four hits, gave up one earned run and struck out six to lead the Red Sox (35-25) to a 3-2 victory.

After 18 years as a major league pitcher, this achievement is another testament to what Wakefield prides himself on: Being steady and dependable.

“It’s a sign of longevity, dealing with adversity and the ups and downs, having an organization that believes in me,” Wakefield said. “It’s a tribute to never giving up.”

Among active pitchers, Wakefield now only trails the Philadelphia Phillies’ Jamie Moyer in innings pitched (3,981 to 3,006). Wakefield also leads the Red Sox with 397 career starts.

“You look at some names of the people who have pitched in this franchise – that’s a pretty remarkable record,” manager Terry Francona said.

It didn’t look like Wakefield was going to reach the mark early on.

Shin-Soo Choo hit a one-out triple that skirted under a diving Mike Cameron’s glove in the first inning, and later scored when Adrian Beltre made a throw to first that pulled Kevin Youkilis off the bag to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

But Wakefield recovered to retire the next 15 batters in order as Cleveland could do little to solve his knuckleball.

“He was nails,” Francona said. “It’s kind of neat on a night where he sets a record. It’s a nice way to do it.”

His only blemish came in the seventh inning when Shelley Duncan hit a 1-1 pitch over the right field wall.

“There were some little mechanical things that got me back on track and I really felt comfortable today,” Wakefield said.

The Red Sox scored three unearned runs in the fourth after Trevor Crowe dropped a Martinez flyball at the center field wall with two outs. Kevin Youkilis doubled, and David Ortiz and Beltre both singled to bring the score to 3-0.

“We took advantage of it, if we don’t do anything you forget about it,” Francona said. “But we strung together hits and scored some runs. You have to be good enough to take advantage of it.”